Earning Your Wings
by x-pounce-x
Summary: What happens to the cats that don't believe in StarClan? They join the Lost Souls, of course! And when two clan cats, and 3 outsiders who are associated with the clans come to want to join StarClan after finding out about it's existence, the only way for them to do so is to each create a new clan and spread the clan legacy. from scratch. set after the last hope.
1. prologue

**hello! welcome to "earning your wings" - another one of the many warriors fanfictions on the site. it's going to be a pretty long story, as we have 5 main characters and 5 points of view to switch back and forth from, plus side characters weaved in there and some point of view changes. i hope you'll enjoy it as much as i do, though. x3**

**i'm still short on cats for the clans, and if you want you can go contribute cats here: topic/16815/112342647/1/cats-needed**

**disclaimer: i in no way shape or form own warriors. that right belongs to erin hunter. the majority of these characters were given to me by glimmericewood, silverwolf225, explosionsarefun, xtremeblaze, and esper of tropica. i thank each and everyone one of them for their contributions. i only own a few characters here and there entirely. **

**now, on with the story, shall we? :3**

* * *

"Tell me...what do you remember before coming here?" asked the shadowy cat beside me. I didn't know who he was, but he had been asking me these questions for awhile now. He was just there when I woke up, but I wasn't afraid of him for some reason.

"Well," I began, glancing at my paws, "I remember fighting alongside the rest of my clanmates. I didn't know what they were, but I had to have been dreaming because there were shadow cats racing around ThunderClan camp. I remember talking to Darkstripe, a cat from my kithood memories. Something about believing in the Warrior Code or something. The next thing I knew, there were frenzies of claws and cats attacking me. We were overwhelmed and I remember being covered in injuries. I was brought back to Jayfeather and while he was healing me, I guess I just started to drift off a bit. The next thing I knew I was here."

The shadow nodded. "Cloudtail, you see..."

* * *

"What do you remember before coming here?"

"Oh," I started, taking a breath, "All I remember was sorting herbs in my den. Mistystar was making a big deal over nothing. This 'Dark Forest' wasn't real. The next thing I knew, there was yowling outside and I felt a blow to my head. I just sort of ended up here I guess,"

"Mothwing," the shadow began...

* * *

"What do you remember before coming here?"

"Well, my twolegs were taking me to the Cutter, like they usually did every once and awhile. The Cutter took me into the room and my housefolk came in and watched, which was new. The woman had streams of water down her face, like she does when she gets sad, and I wanted to cuddle up next to her and comfort her like I usually did. The Cutter stabbed me like he usually does with is little sharp claws and the next thing I knew my housefolk were clinging to me. I felt lightheaded and tired, so I closed my eyes and fell asleep. Now I'm here."

"Well, Princess..."

* * *

"What do you remember before coming here."

"Well, I was just wandering. Everyone in my group of loners hated me and I guess since they threw me out, I just travelled around. I eventually ran into a fox, which is hard to battle when you're all alone. I got knocked out by it, and ended up...where am I, actually?"

"Well, Jingo, it's a long story..."

* * *

"What do you remember before coming here?"

"I had been traveling through twolegplace like I've been doing for moons now. I had strayed a bit too far into the bad section where BloodClan used to be and was attacked by some pretty vicious rogues. I was outnumbered and they took me down pretty quickly. That's all I remember."

"Sasha..."

"No, I know. I'm dead, aren't I?"


	2. cloudtail

**woo, chapter 2 already! i'm so excited for this story! x3**

**so here's how this is going to work. each chapter is going to be titled the name of a character. everything involving that character's clan is going to be in that chapter. so if i want to switch povs partway through the chapter, that cat is related to that clan and is a major character.**

* * *

cloudtail's pov

"follow me cloudtail," the shadowy cat said to me, gesturing for me to follow him with his tail. i followed him and emerged in a very empty place, not dark, but not bright either. the terrain was flat and grassy and cats hunted prey.

"in that battle, cloudtail, you were...killed." the shadowy cat looked up and i finally saw he had a face. "my name is beechthorn, and i am leader of the lost souls."

"the lost souls?" i said, looking at the tom, which i now saw that he was a light brown tabby. "wait, so what about starclan? is there a starclan?"

"starclan is very much real, as real as the dark forest," beechthorn mewed, looking at me with amber eyes. "this is where the cats that didn't believe in starclan during their life go. they didn't have the faith to enter starclan, but starclan didn't have the will to banish all the rogues and loners and kittypets to the dark forest. they put them here, with me - the first clan cat to not believe in starclan."

i stared at him dumbfounded, confused as ever.

"and cloudtail? you're the second cat to ever not believe in starclan. the third is here also." he turned and called out to a dappled golden she-cat on the grass, stalking a mouse. "mothwing, there's someone i'd like you to meet."

"cloudtail!" mothwing cried, scaring her mouse and running towards me. she placed her muzzle in my neck. "i thought i'd be all alone here. this isn't so bad anymore."

beechthorn stared at us and said, "oh, so you know each other. this is a lot less complicated now."

"wait, mothwing...you were a medicine cat! you didn't believe in starclan?" i said to her, shocked. she nodded solemnly. "now, i wish i did. i just didn't believe in stuff like that, but now that i truly know..." she said, staring at her paws. "i can't be with my friends from riverclan. i'll never see leopardstar or mistystar or willowshine again."

"that means...i'll never see firestar? or brightheart, or whitewing or amberkit, snowkit, and dewkit? i won't see my grandkits, dovewing and ivypool?" i stared at beechthorn. i could feel the horror spread across my face as he solemnly nodded.

"rogues, loners, and kittypets have come here associated with the clans and not seen old friends. it disappoints them, princess and sasha especially. they had kits in the clans."

"sasha?" mothwing whipped her head to face the light brown spirit, amber eyes glowing with a slight hint of hope. "my mother's here?"

"you're her kit?" beechthorn said, surprised. "yes, she's here. sasha!"

a cat with strange patterns on her muzzle, ears, tail, and paws padded over towards us and as soon as she caught sight of the dappled golden she-cat, she broke into a run.

"mothwing!" she cried out, touching noses with her daughter. "i thought i'd never see you again! you were a clan cat - why aren't you in starclan?"

"i didn't believe in them, so they sent me here," she said, looking down at her paws.

"now we can always be together," sasha said, holding her daughter close.

i turned back to beechthorn while the riverclan cat and her mother spoke. "you said a cat named princess was here? my mother?"

"oh, so she's _your _mother. yes, i'll call her. princess!"

my mother also looked up from her meal to see what she was being called for. she came padding towards us, and, like sasha, when she saw me, she broke into a run.

"cloudtail, oh, i thought i'd never see you again! how's firestar? how's thunderclan?"

"i think firestar is alright. but then again, apparently i died before the battle was over, so i don't really know."

"battle?" princess said, worriedly. "oh, i do hope your clan is alright." she touched noses with me and licked my ear affectionately. "ever since i died, i always wished i could go to starclan and be with you and firestar. even though you're here, i still wish i could go be with firestar."

"so do i," i said to my mother. "i have a mate and kits and grandkits in thunderclan that i'd like to see again someday. if i had only believed in starclan's existence, i could have."

i noticed that out of the corner of my eye, a dark brown tabby she-cat was padding towards us, her blue eyes looking at us curiously.

"hello," she greeted me with a dip of her head, "my name is jingo."

_jingo...now where does that name sound familiar?_ suddenly it hit me - birchfall had told me about this cat after his journey to find sol.

"yes, i've heard of you," i told her, gazing at her curiously.

"so you are clan cats then!" she said, and mothwing looked up from her conversation with her mother. i nodded my head to her.

she gave a small gasp of delight. "i'd like to know how bramblestar is. and birchfall and hollyleaf...oh, and lionblaze and brackenfur and hazeltail! how are they?"

"from what i know before dying, they're all very well," i meowed to her, chuckling as mothwing padded to sit next to me.

"i always wanted to see them again, but now it appears i won't. clan cats go to starclan, while i'm stuck here," she said sadly, looking away.

suddenly, beechthorn began talking again. "well," he began, looking at us as if he shouldn't be telling us this, "there is a way for all of you to get to starclan. it's going to involve some hard work and dedication, but in the end, you'll be able to get what you're seeking if you work hard enough."

"what is it?" i asked immediately, princess and mothwing getting up to stand beside me. jingo padded and listened eagerly, while sasha just stood by mothwing like she was going to do whatever her daughter was for the sake of being with her.

"starclan wants to find a way for less cats to end up here. you five are the only cats who know clan cats personally, so they've probably told you how it all works. you five will probably be the only cats to ever leave the lost souls and go to starclan."

he continued, "what you need to do is possess the souls of five different cats in around the same area, nowhere near the clans. this is where it gets complicated. you're going to each create your own clan and spread the word about starclan, the warrior code, and the clan life to all the rogues, loners, and kittypets. build up your clans and meet every moon at a set place. once your clans are built to sustain themselves, starclan will contact you through a dream. your soul can leave the rogue and you can live among their ancestors as legends. cloudtail and mothwing can also live among their clans' ancestors."

we all stared at him, confused.

"wait, wait, wait. so starclan wants us to _make_ our own clans? that's crazy!" mothwing said, narrowing her eyes.

beechthorn shrugged. "if you don't want to get into starclan, don't do it. but it's the only way."

i looked over at my mother, who stared back at me, worry on her face, mixed with excitement. "i'll do it, but only if all five of us do," i said, sitting back down again.

"i'll do it too, cloudtail," my mother said, sitting beside me. "i'm not going to be alone in this forsaken place." beechthorn narrowed his eyes when she said that, but didn't respond.

"i guess i'll take part," mothwing said, waving her tail. that also got sasha nodding, which i assumed meant she was in as well.

jingo looked uncertain, but forced a smile on her face. "i'll do it too."

beechthorn smiled. "then it's done. you five will be the first cats to leave the lost souls and return to starclan. follow me and i'll take you to the lands of the living."

* * *

**what do you think? don't forget to leave a review! **

**remember, if you want to submit character for this, copy this to the butt of your link: ** topic/16815/112342647/1/cats-needed


	3. mothwing

**hello! welcome back to "earning your wings!" it's been a few days since my last update, but these periods between them will be shorter for a little bit - my birthday was on saturday and i started summer school today! (don't worry - it's just for learning how to use laptops) anyways, i hope you enjoy this next installment of earning your wings! **

**disclaimer: once again, i own nothing but a few measly characters. the original 5 belong to the erin hunters, and the majority of these upcoming characters are given to me by glimmericewood, silverwolf225, esper of tropica, explosionsarefun, and xtremeblaze. i appreciate every single one of them.**

* * *

**_even though the faded glow won't burn through your bars, you put out to put up ~_**

**mothwing's pov**

i couldn't believe it. i was really flying.

i was soaring through the air like a bird, able to push forward with my mind willing me forward. the other four were flying alongside me while i flew behind beechthorn. he was leading the way.

as we flew overhead, i began thinking about the whole corruption thing. i didn't want to hurt a living soul, but would i be doing that by basically suffocating the poor other soul and taking it's place? would i be killing the creature?

"now, when you corrupt these cats, all you have to do is conform to their shape. if the cat is sitting, sit in the same position and you'll just merge with it. the other soul will still be there and you'll be able to talk to it at first, but if you don't want it around, just push it to the back of your mind. it'll basically just drown it out and it'll be able to take it's place as the original cat when your time is done."

it was as if beechthorn had read my mind. i breathed out a sigh of relief and began searching down below when the brown tabby spirit decided we were far enough away from the original clans. we needed to find the perfect "island" like the original clans had that we could meet up at every moon and teach the new clans about gatherings.

cloudtail spotted the perfect place first. "hey look!" he called, gesturing down below while jerking to a stop and hovering in the air. he was looking down at a small pool with a large jutting stone in the center and small waterfalls surrounding it in a half-circle sort of formation. there was a large clearing surrounded by large trees that connected to the pool where cats could sit and watch gatherings.

"i like it," said princess, swooping down a bit to check it out. "the water is crystal clear! it's nice and cool and there's stepping stones towards the big rock in the center of the pool! that could be where the leaders sit!"

jingo and my mother swooped down with her to check it out and me and cloudtail followed hard on their tails. we examined the area and decided it was the perfect place to meet for news.

i looked at cloudtail. "why don't we call it fivefalls? like fourtrees, but we have five clans?"

he nodded back at me. he said, "i like that idea. is everyone else in agreement?" the other three cats nodded their heads in response.

beechthorn looked up. "then it's settled. fivefalls will be where you will meet every moon until starclan calls you. i cannot guide you from here anymore." he looked up and gathered himself for a leap into the air. he caught himself and soared into the sun.

"so then?" i said, looking around, "we'll split up in different directions and how about we meet here at sunhigh tomorrow?"

* * *

**_even while your lightning smile was shaking in the smoke, your head was full of hope ~_**

i immediately headed the same direction sasha went, picking the area nearby where we'd call it her border. we chose down below the pool where we later ran into an old thunderpath that jutted out into sasha's "territory" and just ended. the thunderpath, we decided, would act as our border.

we walked from sunhigh to sunset, talking from opposite sides of the border. around the time it was getting dark, we heard voices nearby the border. i gestured with my tail and decided to investigate. i led the way, slinking in the grass in a crouch while sasha just plain walked beside me and bounded into the clearing. i hissed at her to be quieter, but then i remembered - i'm dead. they can't see me, hear me, or probably feel me even.

the rogues were two she-cats, one pure white with blue-green eyes and one silver with unusual white dapples. as they kept talking and we listened, we found out their names were star (the silver and white one) and shimmer (the white one) and that they were sisters from the same litter. they looked 10 moons old and were very young. i turned to sasha and looked her in the eye. she gave a solid nod of approval and i began padding forward to take the shape of the white one, conforming to fit her white body. i felt a small jolt of nerves flare and when i blinked open my eyes again, i wasn't seeing the white cat. i _was _the white cat.

_what's going on? who are you? what are you doing here? why can't i move? what's _happened _to me?_

"relax," i soothed her gently, calming her worried tone. "my name is mothwing and i'm going to be taking over your body for a little while. i want to keep you around though and give it back to you when i'm finished in a few moons, alright?"

_i don't know...what are you going to do with my body?_

she sounded very uncertain, but she didn't have a choice. "i'm a dead spirit, a deceased medicine cat of riverclan. i learned about herbs and cared for cats within my clan. when i died, i didn't believe in our ancestors, which is what all the other cats put their faith in. i was born a rogue, so i didn't believe in them. i didn't join my ancestors and the only way for me to do so is to form my own clan like riverclan. i need your body to help me recruit cats and teach them about the clans."

_well...i suppose if i'm going to get my body back, the only way for me to do so is to cooperate. i'm listening and i'll help you, mothwing._

i grinned and said to her, "thank you so much, shimmer! how about we go by shimmerwing for a little while - these cats we're recruiting should probably know that i'm not technically you. perhaps you'd even like to join the clan when we're finished!"

_wooah, don't go that far ahead. i said i would help, but i didn't say i was going to join it. i said i wanted my body back and when i get it back, i'm going to find my sister and we're going to live as loners again. _

at this, my grin vanished and i frowned. "alright, if that is what you wish," i told her, sighing a bit. she'd come around eventually.

i looked out of the corner of shimmer's eyes and saw star getting up and padding over to me. i looked at her and she said to me, "everything all right with you, mothwing?"

oh, sasha! i had totally forgotten she was right beside me converging with star.

"shimmerwing," i corrected her, "and you should probably go by a clan name too for awhile...since her name is star, what about something like starcloud? it suits you."

she nodded. "starcloud it is," she said, grinning playfully at me.

"i should probably go find a place for my camp to be. it's getting dark, but i'll see you at the meeting place and sun-high tomorrow?" i asked.

"of course," was her response and she smiled before bounding back into her own territory.

* * *

**_even now when you know how to measure up the risk, you're still not tired of this ~_**

_we're going deeper into the forest at night? are you crazy?_

"relax, shimmer," i said, padding deeper into the leafy green maple tree canopy. "i've had training as a warrior before."

_a warrior?_

"a cat that fights for their clan," i explained as i walked.

i kept walking in the darkness that was now starting to surround the forest. it was getting harder to see and i wasn't quite sure where i was going.

_mothwing, look out!_

too late. i tripped over a large stone and went tumbling into a thick clearing that dropped into a rocky ditch.

thick black rock cliffs surrounded the clearing from all sides, but it appeared to be easy to climb. the clearing itself was mossy and covered in dead leaves. inside the cliffs, there were small caves that would work for a medicine cats den, an elder's den, and a leader's den, while dens like warriors dens, apprentices dens, and a nursery would have to be build out of woven grass. i was sure that some large branches could also be used to make walls for the dens.

"this is perfect," i breathed to myself, padding towards one of the small caves i had explored earlier. i curled up inside it, the cold rock freezing my pelt. i would need to get some of that moss all throughout the forest for a nest first thing tomorrow.

* * *

_**i am a member of the butterfly culture where we work and we take, we play and we pray to god ~**_

at sunhigh, i was basically running back the way i had traveled the day before, along the thunderpath. i had woken up late and was running behind. i didn't want my companions to worry about me.

when i finally got to the waterfall, i was panting and staring at three completely unknown cats. sasha's silver and white tabby body stood among them, all looking at me worriedly.

"sorry...i'm...late..." i panted, breathing deep heavy breaths. a dark brown tabby let out a deep laugh and that let me know it was cloudtail. a small dark ginger she-cat stood close beside him, which made me assume it was princess, his mother. and finally, a black furred she-cat stood a bit away from the rest of them and i figured it was jingo, the one who didn't really know anyone.

"are you okay, mothwing?" cloudtail asked, though it sounded really weird when it wasn't really cloudtail talking.

"yea, i'm fine, but i don't go by mothwing anymore. i've decided to go by shimmerwing to keep my spirit identity a secret."

_ahem? aren't you going to introduce me to your companions?_

"oh right. guys, i'd like you to meet shimmer. she's this body. and shimmer, the brown tabby is cloudtail...no wait, he should go by dusttail. the ginger she-cat with the white paws is princess, but you can call her...hollyblossom? and the black-furred cat is jingo, but she goes by...uh...nightstorm! and you met my mother, sasha, aka starwing, yesterday."

cloudtail stepped forward to stand beside me. "guys, this body is named dust and he wants to be known."

"well, since we're introducing our bodies," nightstorm began, "this is davina."

"and my body goes by scarlet," princess said, sitting down.

sasha looked at me and said, "and mine is called star."

i grinned, looking around. "now all that's left is actually creating the clan."

nightstorm rolled her eyes. "you say that like it's going to be easy. you're forgetting that you have to find cats, not including the cats that want nothing to do with you and the cats that would kill you so it doesn't happen."

_kill? they're going to kill me?_

"no, shimmer, they aren't," i muttered under my breath.

"well, i guess all we can do is meet back here in a moon. i'd bring potential leader candidates? we aren't going to be around forever and if starclan isn't going to send us any signs until this is done, we're on our own," cloudtail pointed out. "i'll see you all when the moon is full?"

starcloud shrugged. "works for me."

"then we'll see each other then," i said, turning back towards the maple forest and padding off to re-find my camp.

* * *

**the song lyrics mentioned throughout also aren't mine. that song is called "butterfly culture" and it's by benjamin francis leftwich. **

**anyways, what do you think? review review review! i love to see what you have to say! see an error? review it! have a good idea of where you'd like it to go next? review it (i may actually use it)! have a favorite character so far? review it! i love to hear what you have to say!**

**'til next time!**

**-pounce**


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